Dead arsonist's haunting final facebook post

by jgould

Joel Gould
Journalist
Joel is a journalist with 20 years of experience and since February, 2011 he has been the late reporter at The Queensland Times. Joel specialises in longer features and as the late reporter he chases all the breaking stories that unfold in the evenings. A die hard rugby league fan, Joel has been pushing hard for the Western Corridor bid to be admitted into the NRL.

IN A HAUNTING final social media post, the man who deliberately set fire to a Brookwater home, and ultimately himself, said he was "going to achieve something great this year".

Neil De Graaf, a senior relationship manager with Healthcare at ANZ, died overnight in Royal Brisbane Hospital from the burns he suffered in the attack on Monday night.

De Graaf had rammed his black BMW into the mother of his former love interest April Laing's home and poured two canisters of accelerant around the two-storey property before setting it on fire with the family still inside.

But two days earlier he had said he was on the cusp of greatness on his Facebook page.

"I'm feeling inspirational, like I'm going to achieve something great this year," he wrote on Saturday at 8.20am.

"I want to share success with those I care about and I want them to be successful too, whatever that looks like for you.

"Let me know if I can help in any way, to support you or help you be successful. I'm 100 % genuine with this offer."

De Graaf also linked to an inspirational speech on You Tube that he said had helped him when he trained.